Combination surface plate and piston aligner



Dem 1925- F. HOERNER COMBINATION SURFACE PLATE AND PISTON ALIGNER Filed 'Nov. 30, 1923 ton FRANK Hoznngg,

Patented Dec. 8, 1925.

UNITED STATES FRANK I-IOERNER, DE LOS ANGEL-ES, CALIFORNIA.

COMBINATION SURFACE PLATE AND PISTON ALIGNER.

Application filed. November 30, 1923.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK HOERNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Combination Surface Plate and Piston Aligners, of which the following is a specification.

Although my present invention is referred to as a combination surface plate and piston aligner, it should be understood that a preferred form of my invention comprises a plate which may be used either in combination with piston aligning means or inclependently thereof.

It is an object of this invention to provide a surface plate, capable of use in conjunction with an arbor for use in the alignment of pistons, with novel supporting means, my preferred supporting means being in the form of a retaining block extending from the back of the said surface plate and longitudinally thereof in such manner as to permit of the support of my surface plate, or

' my surface plate and aligning means rigidly connected therewith, by means such as an ordinary vice.

It is an object of this invention to provide a piston aligner, which may comprise an arbor or arbors or an arbor and bushings or shims rigidly supported at right angles to a surface plate, with means permitting the support of the same in an exactly vertical position, when desired, regardless of any inclination or other irregularity in a bench or other work support in connection with which the same is to be used, my preferred securing means comprising a block extending substantially at right angles to the plane of a surface plate and adapted to be received between the jaws of any ordinary vice, which may be positioned and intended for the routine work of a machine shop.

It being customary to provide piston aligners with comparatively heavy bases intended to support the same from below and in an upright position, it is an object of this invention to provide means for supporting a surface plate or a piston aligner from one side, and a preferred form of my invention comprises what I may term a knock-down piston aligner comprising an arbor or arbors adapted to be rigidly secured at right angles to a surface plate or to be disconnected therefrom to permit in- 7 ton alignments,

Serial No. 677,921.

dependent use of the surface plate or to permit storage of the complete article referred to in a comparatively small space; and a preferred embodiment of my inven tion may comprise a surface plate provided with an aperture or apertures near one end or the top thereof by which the same may alternatively be connected with an overhead supporting means, when desired.

Other objects of my invention will appear from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, and from the appended claims, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a surface plate supported from a vice and associated with additional elements constituting a piston aligner, a piston and a connecting rod being shown in place.

Figure 2 is a perspective view from another angle, showing only the essential parts of my invention, without a vice or a piston or connecting rod.

Referring to the details of that specific embodiment of my invention which I have chosen for purposes of illustration, l may be a surface plate, provided near its lower end with an arbor 2 extending at right angles to said plate, this arbor being preferably separable from said plate and pro- 7 vided at its inner end 3 with retaining means such as the nut 4, adapted to engage a thread thereon and to contact with an expanded washer 5, contacting with the rear surface 6 of the surface plate 1.

This means of securing the arbor to the surface plate permits replacement of arbors having different diameters for the purpose of accommodating bearings of different sizes.

It will be understood to be of importance that the plate 1, or at least such parts thereof as may be employed in the testing of pisshall be a perfectly true and fiat surface; and, when this flat surface is to be used in connection with an arbor 2, for use in the manner suggested above, it will be understood to be of importance that this arbor, which may advantageously be provided with an exactly flat and true shoulder at 7, to contact with the flat face of the surface plate 1, shall be, when adjusted, exactly perpendicular to said face.

When the parts referred to are disassembled, the plate 1 may serve any of the usual purposes of asurface' plate; butywhen an alignmentis to be tested 'by-means of my combination surface plate and piston aligner, a connecting rod- 8,- carryinga piston 10, may be clamped in position upon the arbor 2, or itsequivalent, as by an adjustment of the nuts 8, by which the split bearing 9 may be tightened, any imperfection of alignment beingrthen immediately apparent as resulting in'a lack of parallelism between the body of the piston 10 and the adjacent flat surface of the plate 1, or

apparent upon the oscillation of said piston upon its transverse axis,- whlch should, of

course, extend in a direction exactly parallel to the arbor 2.

For reasons suggested, it 'is advantageous to provide a surface plate 1 separable'from the arbor 2; but-the outstanding feature of novelty in my present-'iiwention may nevertheless be regarded as the provisionof novel and highlyi'advantageous supporting means for the parts above'described, my'prefe'rred supporting means comprising a retaining block 11, shown as secured to the back of theplatel and as extending parallel there with in' a plane substantially at right angles thereto, this blockprefe'rably occupying an intermediate position between the respective ends of the plate 1 and being shown as adapted tobe received betweenthe aws ofa vice 12, in such manner thattheverticality' of the plate 1 may be established independently-of thehorizontality of anyfbench,

or the like, to which the vice-12"ma'y be se cured, and independently of-=the verti-cality of the jaws 1301 said vice."

Inorder rigidly to-supportthe plate 1 from a vice," itis advantageous that the blockll shall be positioned-fcentrally near thelower'end thereof, and it may advanta geously 'constitutepractically aneXtens-ion-or l expansion of a longitudinal relnforcing riblel extending toward onto the-top of-said plate Without interferingw-ith l3l16-'11$6 of- *my surface plate independently of'the remaining parts referred to,' or as an element of my;

combination piston aligner, I may optionally provide the same with means permitting its l'lgltl 'connection wvitlr an 'overheadsupa port, my preferred means for=this purpose bein sim )l the )IOVlSlOIl of a )luraht a i l i of suitableapertures-15, near thetop of said plate, from which the same/may be rigidly suspended, as desired, and by means of'bolts or other known securingdevicesi Although I prefer toform' the plate 1 as a semi-steel casting, about 18"inches long by 5 inches wide," and to provide the same with a 1 ,4 inch arbor suitable for use in testing the alignment of' various pistons of known types, it will be understood that the actual dimensions of the parts of my present invention are not material to the novelty or utility thereof, and-that 1 may optionally provide a plurality of arbors of different sizes for alternative use, or I mayoptionally pro videor permit the use of variousbiishings 16, or shims, or the like, in connection with a single-arbor, which mayeithenbe formed integral 'with a plate 101" perfected inde pendently thereof for rigid attachn'ient in the manner above described or-in any other preferred way.

Although I have herein described but one complete embodiment ofmy; invention; it will be understood that various featuresthereof 'might Y be independently employed, and also that'various modifications might 30 bemade therein without departure-from-the spirit and scope of my invention, as the same is indicated above and *in the following claims.-

lVhat I claim isz 1. A piston alignercomprising a face plate which is greater'in 'width than the piston to be'aligned, there-being an--aper-' tureformed centrally 0ftheface plateadjacent one end thereof, an arbor having a--90 reduced end 1 extending through said aperture with the enlarged end projecting from the face-of the face plate and providing a shoulder bearing against the faced surface of the face plate, and a nut-threaded onto the reduced-end of the arbor on theback side ofthe face-plate for tightening the arbor-t0 theface plate.

2.' A piston align'er comprising faceplate wvhich is-greaten in width than the piston to-be -aligned,-there being an aperture formed centrally of the face =-plate adjacent one-endthereof, an arbonhaving a reduced end extending through said aperture witl n the enlarged end projecting frointlie facc of the face plateand providing-a shoulder bearing against the face of :the-face plate, a a nut-threaded 'onto the reducedflend of the arbor onthe back side of theface plate for tightening -'the arb'on to the face platerand a -block secured against the 'back side of the= face plate permitti ng 'the device to bo readilyunountect upon: a vice;

In testimony whereof i I have "signed any name to this specification 

